Modernization trends of the tank Merkava Mk-4 (Israel)
Merkava Mk-4 BAZ - an improved modification of the Merkava Mk-4
The abbreviation BAZ came from Barak Zoher (translated as "Shining Lightning"), a simplified name for the updated fire control system, which was manufactured by Elbit Ltd (Israel). A distinctive feature of this complex is the ability to follow the target in automatic mode, which greatly increases the possibility of hitting an object with a single shot. In addition, this feature allows tanks withstand airborne low-flying objects, and with the use of standard ammunition. Additionally, the complex is equipped with commander panoramic optics of an independent type. The MANTAK administration, which is responsible for introducing new technologies into the Merkava Mk-4 tank, explains that the abbreviation BAZ does not refer to a specific modification of the Merkava decoy (Mk-4, Mk-3 or another), but only to the one that uses the updated fire control system (SLA).
So, as soon as the administration of MANTAK in 1995 announced that the Merkava Mk-3 BAZ would be equipped with the updated Knights Mk4 control system, Elbit Ltd’s engineers immediately switched to the creation of the TADIR index control system for Merkava Mk-4, which was kept in development until the next century.
The leadership of Israel’s self-defense forces decided that the active armor protection system (SAZB) of the tank should be installed in the combat vehicle over the decade, and in turn, first the IMI system and then the Rafael complex. IAI, through its technical unit, was to install anti-radar sensors. In the 1999, test tests of almost 10 developed Mk-4 tanks were completed, and the combat vehicle was sent for dynamic tests to test new units on the march, for example, the updated German 1500 diesel engine MTU of 883 brand, which won the competitive selection. But the question rested, as always, at the weak financing of the project, and in equipping the Mk-4 it became much more expensive. Then it was decided to start production of licensed units of the company General Dynamics (USA), and take money for further rearmament through the American partner program. By the beginning of the release of the Mk-4 "into the series", the SAZB Trophy was still in development, it was not completed due to financial problems. Serial production of armored vehicles began without SAZB, but the possibility of its installation is provided.
The Israeli command used these fighting vehicles closely in the military operations against the Hezbollah movement in 2006, and the results were disappointing. Despite this, it was the fighting that saved the nearly failed program from being canceled by the government. The development of SAZB was continued, money was found. The MANTAK administration decided on a choice, leaving Iron Fist from IAI and several Aspro systems developed by Rafael. Now SAZBs are equipped not only with Mk-4, but also with earlier modifications, such as the Mk-2 and even lighter military equipment. Now you can already see the Merkava Mk4 with the improved Aspro C SAZB, with the main delivery option of Aspro A, and from 2011, the Merkava Mk-4 BAZ and Merkava Mk-4M are already being released with the updated and adapted Aspro.
After analyzing the failures in the 2006 fighting, the MANTAK administration was authorized to equip one hundred SAZB Trophy II tanks, the BAZ Knight Mk4 Tadir SharpShooter SSA and the L3 propulsion unit with 1500, a powerful engine from the American company General Dynamics.
The next on the agenda was the question of finalizing all the medium-sized Merkava Mk-4 tanks in service in the number of 400 units to the level of security BAZ, which at that time was already manufactured by order of Israel’s self-defense forces. The SAZB Trophy II was released in the “series” in 2007, with two prevailing features. The first is the creation of an identification system for the Duplex mode, when the tank is under fire from systems with different types of ammunition. The second is the possibility of recharging SAZB by the crew from the inside. As a virtue, the possibility of countering the direct hit of a cumulative projectile is noted.
The first series of 30 combat vehicles Mk-4 BAZ left the assembly line at the beginning of 2009, the second - in six months, and the third group of tanks - on the eve of 2011. All these actions of the defense department are an attempt to take into account the mistakes of the military company in 2006 in Lebanon. At the same time, in 2009, the installation of the SAZB Trophy began on all existing Mk-4 machines, and then on the Mk-3. Later, the refinement plan was further strengthened by the new SAZB Trophy II.
New applications for the next two Trophy II batches, as well as the first application for a competitive SAZB from IMI Iron Fist for a heavy Nemer armored personnel carrier, were issued by the new Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The finalization of the Mk-4 “series” is planned for 2012 year.
The first Merkava Mk-4 BAZ tanks of the 2007 model of the year were equipped with TADIR, ASPRO fire control systems and new hinged armor elements that have better dynamic characteristics than the Chobham armor complex. The tower part of the tank was modernized, almost all chains were removed from it. The battalion of the 30 combat vehicles completed the combat training process of the units and was deployed in 2009 in the Golan Heights.
Merkava Mk-4 LIC - Israeli tank for fighting in the city
Merkava Mk-4 LIC, the base of which was the combat vehicles Merkava Mark III BAZ or Mark IV BAZ, were produced already adapted for fighting in the conditions of the settlement.
In the tower part of this product is mounted "Spark" machine guns caliber 12,7 mm (instead of the standard 7,62 mm), which creates a rather high density of fire attack without the use of artillery units. The use of a tank gun is ineffective in the city, and even this will lead to a large number of people killed and wounded among the inhabitants of the village. Here, a remote action fire control module is used, which allows the crew to conduct a fire attack from under the armor of the tank.
All places of the tank, traditionally prone to defeat small weapons and fragments of grenades, are protected by a special, particularly strong metal mesh that protects optics, ventilation devices and motor exhaust openings from being hit by a melee weapon. There are special tracked shoes to preserve asphalt pavement, and LED optics makes it possible to move in poor visibility in the city and at night.
Israeli tank Merkava Mk-4M with Aspro
After the military conflict of 2006, the leadership of the Israeli Self-Defense Forces agreed to equip the ASZB ASPRO A combat vehicles (in other sources, Trophy) produced by local firm RAFAEL. Aspro is designed in such a way that it prevents the enemy from attacking from all sides, allowing a low degree of risk of infecting infantry units, which, under the guise of tanks, perform joint tasks. The system actively opposes both the cumulative jet and the dynamic effect of impact-type ammunition detonators. Aspro has several modifications for installation on armored personnel carriers and light combat vehicles.
Tanks equipped with ASPRO A SASBs are known as the Merkava Mk-4M. Their mass production was launched at the end of 2008 of the year, and in the spring of next year they appeared in Israeli military units and formations. In March of this year, they were tested in hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
In the summer of 2010, the main tank Merkava Mk-4 with ASPRO A was presented at the Eurosatory 2010 armament display.
It is possible to install the R-OWS module for combat management and the THOR and Trophy complexes (ASPRO-A) from the Rafael company into the control systems.
R-OWS - modular combat device to control the picture of the battle for armor
Thor is a system for the destruction of various blasting devices using a high-power laser beam.
At the end of 2006, Rafael (Israel) and General Dyanmics (USA) agreed to supply Thor for the needs of the American military complex. Under this agreement, Thor can be installed both on self-propelled combat vehicles and on "Drones", which the US Army takes advantage of.
ASPRO A (Trophy) company RAFAEL (Israel) - SAZB, which is used by new tanks Merkava Mk4M.
The completeness of the complex is represented by four sensors - the radar, the identification system “friend-foe”, the measurement system and the electron-optical reconnaissance Elta II, which identifies the ammunition with which the enemy defeats the survivability of the tank, as well as the detection system of enemy communications. All instruments synthesize the data obtained by constantly introducing corrections to the coordinates of the targets and necessary labels, accompanying the marked targets. A multipath radar produces a continuous circular scanning of the terrain, using both the flat sections of the receiver on the front and rear of the combat vehicle, and an antenna array mounted in the center.
At the end of the summer of 2007, the same company Raphael announced a “miracle armor”, which received the abbreviation M-TAPS. According to the designers, this will be a qualitatively new step in the armor protection of tanks and combat vehicles, a new technology in the manufacture of additional armor protection of the mounted type. The creation of this new "clothing" tank is considered a giant step forward in the technologies of new generation, its characteristics are much higher than that of the Chobham type armor, which is used on many armored complexes of the NATO unit. This is a hinged armored composite protection of the passive type, which serves as an obstacle to the delivery of anti-tank strikes with updated means of armed forces of the countries of the likely enemy, such as double missiles and missiles with a tandem warhead. M-TAPS is structurally designed in a modular version and there is the possibility of mounting the complex in combat situations. The effectiveness of the use of the system against improvised mines, grenades and shells, mines with a shock core and armor-piercing shells 30 mm gun, which is in service with the NATO countries of Bushmaster, has been proved. The new armored complex will be mounted by the BMP Badley (USA), and since 2008, it has already been used on the MRAP-II equipment of the US Marine Corps.
Test field tests are continuing on the use of rocket shots using the barrel bore 120 mm smooth-bore gun. Prototypes of such munitions of various denominations are already available.
Ammunition for the tank that best meets the requirements of modern combat, which have a long range of fire and are equipped with an on-board artificial intelligence system, was produced by Israeli corporations IMI and RAFAEL in a general project with Raytheon Corporation (USA). The engineers and designers of these enterprises created a tank shot, which has a range of over 10 miles, equipped with an onboard GPS navigation system, which helps to find the target with its subsequent defeat within a radius of three yards. Ammunition with a target designation system via satellite enables the crew of the tank, without leaving the armor, to suppress enemy targets, without conducting subsequent control of the perfect shot, so effective is the created ammunition. Illumination of the planned targets is organized with the help of a laser source. It is carried out by unmanned flying vehicles or by another tank crew. This 120 mm EXCALIBUR GPS munition is already in service with the Merkava Mk-4 BAZ.
Since this novelty is capable of eliminating a designated target from a single shot, the number of required ammunition for a combat vehicle is significantly reduced. This will significantly reduce the tension in the work of the rear units during the transportation and delivery of tank shots. “Artificial intelligence” mortar ammunition - an alliance of computer devices, navigation and directory equipment, which operates online.
In 2007, the main tank Merkava Mk-4 B began using the new 120 mm shots from ARAM, the Israeli firm IMI. The main purpose of the use of these shells is the destruction and suppression of the actions of the enemy's motorized infantry units. The shot is a cluster projectile, which, after leaving the barrel bore, is subdivided into 6 individual warheads, providing the target area with air gaps based on the shrapnel principle. The use of such types of ammunition shows high efficiency when the enemy conducts urban battles on the principle of "partisan" war.
Automatic loading system for drum-type ammunition with a capacity of 10 shots.
In the production of charging, a computerized microprocessor “automatic” is used according to the choice of the type of shot.
It is electrically operated and rated for 120 mm ammunition. This complex is protected from direct contact and protects the crew in case of a self-explosion, being in the isolated compartment of the tower complex. Managed from the combat compartment of the armored vehicle. The system program is designed to choose from 10 different types of tank shots, which must be replenished if necessary.
Soltam (recently acquired by Elbit) prepared a stationary anti-personnel 60-mm commander mortar for delivery to the Merkava tank complex. Mounted in the commander's compartment, designed for firing mortar shots through the hole in the hull of the tank. Firing range up to 2700 meters. Ammunition is 30 shots. Aiming and firing takes place automatically using computer programs. Scope - local armed conflicts, "guerrilla" war, fighting in the city
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